The most fruitful strategies for dealing with gangs are those
which emphasize prevention and intervention instead of suppression
and enforcement--on this most social scientists and criminologists
agree (Goldstein and Huffl993) (Conley 1993) (Winfree, Mays &
Vigil-Backstrom 1994) (Father Boyle l996).

The fortress mentality doesn't work. In l992, just two hours
before New York's Mayor Dinkins was to address a high school
student body, another student shot and killed two classmates. At
the time of the shootings, there were seventeen police officers in
the building not to mention other security personnel and measures
taken especially since the mayor was on the grounds! (Shields
1993:8)

Neither stepped up police surveillance nor short-term
incarceration does much good. If anything, incarceration gives
the individual prestige among peers. The publicity that gang
violence generates satisfies the adolescent hunger for
recognition. "Kids like to have their names in the paper, even if
someone is killed..." said one youngster to the Boston Globe.
Others boast about the things they have done and like to portray
themselves as public enemy number one. Ironically, treating gangs
like public enemies may encourage gang membership because of the
widespread publicity and notoriety furnished by that sort of
reaction.

The gang phenomenon, according to both the liberal apologists and
anti-gang activists, is a by-product of moral breakdown in the
community. While the apologists tell us that it is the conditions
that drive young people to crime, not all youths from these
conditions join gangs--a much overlooked, but salient point to
remember. As a mater of fact, the majority do not affiliate with
gangs, and only some 4 to 10 % do.

Thus, prosecution must be directed at the crime, not the social
group. A war on gangs hurts the working poor who live in the
neighborhood and are humiliated and harassed by it. Furthermore,
it arouses people's outrage and further prejudices society against
them.

Of course, issues of race cannot be ignored in looking for
solutions to the gang problem. Clearly, difficult conditions are
relegated to certain races and not others in our society.
If "tough on crime" measures fail, perhaps society's resources
must be realigned in a way that respects the humanity of all
people, and that addresses the inequities that give rise to
violence. Until society realizes that every child has value and
that every child can succeed, the youth in the lower socio
economic areas will continue to be a lost resource. The first
step, then, becomes one of supporting young people who are trying
(the other 90 plus percent who live in these destructive
environments).

Probably most important is acknowledging that individual moral
responsibility is a necessary pre-condition to the resolution of
the gang problem. Some of the parents do not themselves have the
moral wherewithal to instruct their children away from gang
membership (See Why Join and Criminal Behavior).

COMPULSORY EDUCATION PAST THE AGE OF 14

Perhaps teens who don't want to be in school should not be there.
Why not have schools for those who want to learn? Those who want
to be in gangs need to be dealt with differently, but not in our
schools where they poison the well for everyone else.

Schools for youths who want to learn might also dry up the sources
of recruitment for gangs. School ranks high among those who
instill young people with contempt for education if schools are
irrelevant and unchanallenging. School is also where we learn
what constitutes a "book-worm." Clearly, young people's
attitudes are subsidized after school as well and in the
community, on MTV and even in department stores that have made not
only gang attire "trendy," but have recently made the "junkie"
look popular too. Hence, between videos, rap feuding, songs about
the drug culture, bad boy entertainment, and gang clothing, kids
are inundated with the opposite value system of that which the
mainstream society purportedly would have them learn.

Along this line of thinking, at a Kansas City gang summit the
recommendation that African-American parents develop their own
separate school system actually garnered support according to
Ralph Reiland, Prof. at Robert Morris College. Reiland maintains
that the African American Community at large is too focused on
what injustives have been or are currently being done to them. He
attacks the "It's not fair" mentality, and charges that it has
made people contemptuous of business. Hence, he recommends
capitalism for Black America. Reiland would create hope through
capitalism by opening stores, generating jobs, and supplying
examples of success (Reiland 1994). This may not be bad advice
for the Latino community as well, a community that has also
wallowed in vicitimization moaning about repression for much too
long.While the schools try to draw the students, and while the parents
advocate education, anti-intellectualism is often unintentionally
fostered at home as well as throughout the society. Frequently in
the lower socio-economic household, there is a good deal of
animosity towards college graduates who are unable to assemble a
push broom down at the plant where mom and dad work--overlooking,
of course, the fact that with education, one doesn't have to deal
with push brooms very often if at all!. Latino college people are
berated and described as individuals who act like big-shots, know
it-alls, who are "agabachado" and trying to be Anglo-like. In
addition, it is also not "cool" to be studious.

Other forms of anti-intellectualism are more subtle, although
prevalent throughout the society. They are expressed by sports
heroes -- many of whom behave like hoodlums themselves --i.e. the
wife beaters, drug abusers, etc. Instead, "cool" is cutting
classes and not doing homework.

Health professionals working with mental disorders have suggested
a mandate for special education programs to find methods of
teaching and counseling antisocial students (Lewis 1992). If a
special environment for peer approval and recognition is needed,
something that offers identity and status, perhaps it should be
separate from the classroom environment of those students who want
to go to school to learn and behave normally. SOLUTIONS OFFERED FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY

CHICAGO: From the Chicago suburb of Cicero, one of the more
resourceful strategies to stem the spread of gang-related
violence, grew out of an Illinois law that allowed officials to
treat street gangs as unincorporated associations. Thus,
officials filed suit against 14 street gangs with the intent of
recovering nearly $200,000 that had been spent by the city on
cleaning up graffiti and related vandalism committed by gangs.
(Ponessa 1993: 18-19)

CALIFORNIA: One pilot program brought "at risk" youths to the
morgue so that they might be disinclined to join gangs (Ponessa,
1993).

PROJECT SUPPORT: LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) A
prevention program directed at elementary students in six inner
city schools, included drug/gang policy awareness, drug and gang
prevention education, racial and cultural sensitivity development,
after school alternative programs, tutoring and mentoring,
community service opportunities for kids, career awareness
instruction, and parent education. Many programs go under (as
was the case with this one) because of delays in both funding and
budgetary approvals for subcontracts providing services to the
various schools (Slovak 1993). Programs like this can be greatly
assisted by parents who might contribute a bit of time and energy
for free. After all, it might very well be they who need the
programs most for their own youngsters, themselves, or their
neighborhood.

THE PACT PROGRAM: In this program (PACT) Parents and Children
Together aimed at early intervention by increasing parental
responsibility, involvement, commitment, and awareness. The
program insisted that the nucleus of the problem centered in
family background and social characteristics and that these
predisposed a youth to gang membership. These tactics work well
"before" a youth joins a gang, but they are not a good "after"
approach. Once adolescents are in gangs, different strategies are
needed. Most research indicates the need for building juvenile
self-esteem (Sloan l993).

INTERVENTIONS: Other intervention strategies have a few
characteristics in common. Most suggest targeting which
adolescents are most vulnerable. The also advise early peer
counseling and support group session. Conflict resolution
programs seem to work well. Establishing tutoring schedules
permits young people to experience success in school for a change.
This, in turn, empowers young people and boosts self-esteem.
Other interventions provide moral and ethical counseling. Some
have values clarification sessions. All struggle to make the
targeted youths feel appreciated and valued. Most try to bring
parents, extended family, and any significant others into the plan
and try to get them as far away as possible from the influence of
gang youths not enrolled in the school.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: The Anaheim City Council appointed an ad hoc
task force and initiated project Save-A-Youth which was a
partnership between city, YMCA, Parks & Recreation, and parents.
It blended individual counseling with crisis intervention and
education programs for parents and youths. A distinctive feature
of this undertaking was the "street school" which offered genuine
encouragement and gave drop-outs an opportunity to really do
something about returning to mainstream classrooms (Willis
Kistler: 1988,46).

Programs die out after a while primarily because the principal
players move, burn out, or are unsupported by the rest of the
community. Funding, of course, is a tremendous problem although
many programs have continued long after funds ran dry supported
only by the donated time and efforts of those die-hards who remain
interested in rescuing the communities' neglected children.

DARE. Los Angeles (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) in l983 the
Los Angeles Police Department along with the Los Angeles Unified
School District developed the DARE program for adolescents in the
fifth, sixth and seventh grades. The objective was to assist
youths in foiling peer pressure by saying "No" to alcohol and
other drugs. DARE has had its successes as well as its failures,
and has been used as a preventative model across the country.
However, it oversimplies. It certainly underestimates the
complexities of the task involved in just saying "no," which would
probably get a youth's nose bloodied at the very least, if not
utterly smashed beyond repair even by the most masterful
reconstructive surgeons. The ethos of the streets calls for a far
more circuitous technique than to simply blurt out "No." (See
student essays under "Non-Gang Affiliated: Essay excerpts" and
under"Why join? How do Non gang Affiliated Survive: More Case
Study Essays" to see how young people manage to live in these
neighborhoods without affiliating or using).

JEOPARDY: Los Angeles. Many of the troubled teens these days are
sincerely looking for alternatives to gang activity. Frequently,
however, there is no other way out of the abject rejection,
poverty, and disdain they face from day to day. Hence, in l988
LAPPD established "Jeopardy" designed to redirect young people at
high risk. It addressed adolescents who fell into the "wanna be"
category and other peripherals including younger siblings of gang
members. School officials, parents and community organizations or
businesses, seeks to balance the odds that youths in a gang
dominated neighborhood will join a gang.

CHURCHES AND CITIZENS GROUPS: These groups are doing a great deal
in prevention as well as in the area of intervention. Some of the
citizens groups have come up with the most creative and colorful
solutions yet. Clearly, there is no single solution to the gang
problem because not only are there individual differences to deal
with, but also regional and geographical differences too.

TACOMA, WASHINGTON: When the number of gang members in the
Tacoma, Washington area surpassed 500 known gang members, the
community took the "war" approach consisting of the following
measures: gang members were not allowed to liter or to sit on the
hoods of their cars; they were stopped if they were drinking beer
in public, if they were driving without seat belts, and for even
slight infractions as part of a general harassment approach.
Police saturated the area if they heard of a planned gang event.
The community and even the military began to exchange information
about gang activities. This kind of mobilization sends the
message that gangs are not welcome. Meetings and briefings with
local parents and team commanders were held frequently. The DARE
program approach was implemented as well.

PRIDE (Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education) was
developed at the prompting of Congressman Rob Portman (R-Ohio) as
part of the Coalition For A Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati which,
according to some, could be a model for anti-drug activity
anywhere in the country (Forbes, 1996). The group involves
parents, religious and business leaders from the community, and
the media, all of whom use forums of various types to drive the
anti-drug message home. The underlying premise in this program is
a good one: everyone must get involved because--"If you want a
drug-free community, you must begin with the areas you personally
can control--your homes, streets, neighborhoods, and schools,"
according to Walter Williams, a specialist in community anti-drug
efforts (Forbes 1996).

COMMUNITY BASED POLICING A new style of policing, criticized by
some as soft on crime, but praised by others, is the old-fashioned
concept of a police officer on a beat who gets to know the
merchants and folks in the neighborhood. There are various types
of patrols in place in "Community Based Policing;" for example,
officers on horse back, on bikes, and on foot beats work
throughout an area. Generally, such programs have Police Advisory
Boards composed of community residents who work with the Captain
of that area or with the "Senior Lead Officer" as they are
sometimes called. Because these are area Captains, their purpose
is to achieve a territorial imperative for each area. (McDonald
1996)

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS: The Douglas Center, an unofficially neutral
zone, with coach Walter Smith and his teams has been successful in
an area that is about 75 to 85% gang affiliated youths. In the
midst of this, Walter Smith has diligently plodded along giving
the gangs tremendous competition (Orr 1995:28). The Walter Smith
teams played football, basketball, etc. It made no difference if
a teen was a Vice Lord or a Gangster Disciple. A youth could go
to the Center and play ball for a while, so long as no one caused
any trouble. A no nonsense attitude from coach Smith made that
point all too clear. Traveling was one of the most memorable
parts of being on one of Coach Smith's teams. And camping at the
end of their season was another much appreciated perk. The
program was funded, although very marginally, by the Park District
as well as by private collections and fund raising drives.

Champaign Community Policing Units have been successful in the
area as well.

CRASH: In the early l970's, CRASH was a specially trained police
unit taking the traditional approach of waging war on the gang
problem. The approach means putting a lot of gang members in jail
thereby creating enormous pressure on their very existence.
Hindsight has confirmed that this approach hardly makes a dent.
Today, Gates and Jackson, who helped establish the l970's effort,
themselves support multiple strategies. While the presence of
police at every turn does drive the dope dealers from the streets
and frightens off a few gang members and other unsavory characters
for the time being, the long term effects are negligible.
Nevertheless, Los Angeles resurrects CRASH units from time to time
whether or not they function productively in the long run.

AURORA GANG INTERVENTION UNIT -- This unit's underlying approach
is to let gangs know they are being identified. Thus, if a gang
commits a crime, they are going to get caught--that's the word out
on the street (Barrow 1991). Actually, this is the purpose behind
a number of community outreach programs. They meet with parents
and merchants and form a coalition; a viable method of reporting
crime or any suspicious activity is devised. The Aurora Gang
Intervention Unit sought to get a grasp of the real problem and
get away from the fascination with gangs that is distracting us
from the "need to develop effective coordinated strategies for
preventing and combating crime" (Clay & Aquila, 1994: 68) The
fascination referred to here is the sensational such as how may
gang members a girl has to have sex with in order to join. Instead
Clay and Aquila advocate treating gangs as a symptom of underlying
community problems, not as the problem in and of themselves.

MENTORING PROGRAMS: Part of the frustration experienced by
adolescents who join gangs is that their academic skills are
usually way below par. Thus, mentoring programs -- peer tutoring
- kids helping other kids, is one inexpensive way of serving
youngsters and helping them raise their confidence in themselves.

GREAT (Gang Reporting Evaluation and Tracking)is a computerized
information resource of gang activity that runs on a software
program called Prime Information from Prime Computer Inc. of
Natick, Mass. GREAT targeted 5th and 6th graders at Fort Lewis,
Washington according to an article, "Fort Lewis Says No." Here
the DARE program focused on "gateway drugs" tobacco, alcohol and
marijuana, with GREAT, on the other hand, addressing crime,
violence and teaching youths how to resist pressures to join
gangs. Military police administered the program which greatly
added to the credibility of lectures on firearms (SFC Douglas Ide
1995).

COMMUNITY RECREATION: There is no way the police or community
recreation center can compete with the sense of belonging that the
gang subculture offers. It certainly cannot replace the money to
be had by selling drugs with the gang either (McBride & Jackson
1989:31). Technological tools like GREAT help, but here again the
effort is to stamp out, intervene and arrest. The real solutions
lie outside the realm of the police--in the community, and
primarily in the home. "Kids need alternative to gangs and some
positive adult leadership," as well as a place to "hang out" said
Dick Tillson a CYA official (California Youth Authority).
Principals, parents and teens must all take part in prevention
programs.

Instead of spending on prevention, schools are spending on metal
detectors and school safety plans. Richard Katz, Assembly
Democrat from Sylmar in Los Angeles County is the author of a bill
to set up metal detectors in most Los Angeles schools. Dan
Lungren would close the school so students could not leave during
the day for lunch; he would also have us increase security guards,
discouraging outsiders from loitering near the school. (Barber
1993)

Politicians, law enforcement and school administrators are
targeting younger children nowadays, teaching them self-esteem and
communication skills as well as where to get help. Focusing on
student behavior is far more productive than targeting style of
clothing (Hethhorn 1994) or using "get tough" approaches.

Although suppression is the strategy most frequently used, it
generally fails in reducing or in controlling juvenile crime, if
used by itself with no intervention or follow up program. (tape #
258-93 Pannell)

SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND MENTAL HEALTH: According to Beverly
Lewis, a mandate for special education programs and mental health
professionals is warranted in dealing with the gang problem
considering the dimensions to which it has grown. The need is to
uncover methods of teaching and counseling antisocial students.
She notes that the number of gang members who present problems in
a community would certainly meet clinical criteria for
identification as "conduct disordered." Thus, the problem is seen
as a treatment issue here (Lewis 1992)--an interesting and no so
far-fetched idea.

MENTAL PROGRAMS HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: Belitz and Valdea claim
there is very little literature with clinical information on the
"assessment and treatment of Chicano gang-involved youth." They
advocate addressing family and cultural identity factors. Mental
health professionals are needed to work with and to advocate for
the needs of Chicano Gang involved young people in both mental
health and correctional settings. (1994)

A SUMMARY OF TYPES OF PROGRAMS: Strategies with differing degrees
of success include community mobilization using a number of
resources from the area, social intervention which involves
counseling and tutoring and a number of other assists, providing
opportunities within the community such as job assistance and
recreational programs, and suppression--the "war" model
(Silverman: 1994) Basically, most strategies are an adaptation of
one of these basic approaches.

Although there is little empirical data available, a pattern
emerges indicating that successful programs have the following
things in common :

1. Many sponsors both public and private
2. Involvement of police and community service agencies
3. Reaching out to at-risk youths
4. Providing a variety of services such as counseling,
positive life experiences and goals (See Silverman
l994). WAYS OUT OF A GANG: One of the best ways out of the gang is to
have "an ol'lady and a kid." In the current study, males with
both were left alone and not expected to participate in many gang
activities. Others seem to outgrow the gang by age 24, 25 or so.
Those who continue membership in such groups beyond their
adolescent years are generally thought to have made the transition
from being gang members to being what might be called independent
criminals with gang affiliations (Berland, Homlish and Blotcky
1989:39)

Others find it very difficult to leave or to be left alone. Two
youths in the current study reported having brothers who moved
away from the area completely in order to get out. Those who want
to exit often find jobs and simply fade away into the work world.
Those who are not employable in any capacity because of long
police records do not do so well. Others find themselves
constantly pulled back by the gang and unable to exit. Getting out
is not as easy as getting in for many.

But a pattern that emerges in the current study over and over
again is that most gang members will outgrow their gang
involvement, provided of course they live that long.

A small percentage of hardcore members will go on to adult prison
gangs -- i.e. Nuestra Familia --but most move into some range on a
broad spectrum of adult life. Research shows that young people
often leave the gang because of the influence of a girl friend,
parent or other adult (Spergel 1990:100). There simply comes a
time when the gang member is ready to move on. Of course, the
best solution is to get to the pee-wees and end recruitment-
nipping the problem at the bud.

Actually, the prognosis for gang members is better than for other
criminal defendants, because many will simply outgrow their
criminality particularly if they get any kind of job skills,
remedial education and emotional support along the way providing
them with self-esteem, or with someone who cares about them (often
a girlfriend fits the bill).

Imprisonment inevitably leads to prison gang membership. The
California Youth Authority estimates that four out of every five
inmates become affiliated with a gang. (Haddock & Ginsburg At A
1, Col 2A-14, Col 2)

PUNISH THE PARENTS: California has not yet gone so far as have
authorities in some states (Burrell 1990). In one Arkansas town,
an ordinance was passed permitting the jailing and public
humiliation of parents whose children violated curfew..."
(Burrell 1990). Thus one solution is to have consequences for
parents (when there are parents visible). Getting the message out
that gangs create problems for parents of adolescents may make
gang membership less appealing (and may especially be useful in a
Latino community where the family is still somewhat important).
Arresting gang leaders doesn't do much good. But drying up the
sources of recruitment is toxic to the perpetuation of the gang.
The long-term survival of a youth gang, depends on its ability to
attract new members (Decker & Van Winkle p.170)

AVOID A CRITICAL MASS: Something other than the threat of
expulsion is needed. Thrasher recommended providing an atmosphere
of excitement and thrills through camping, mountain climbing,
canoeing, etc. Corny as it may seem, in the current study some of
the best loved teachers mentioned by the gang members were those
who had taken them camping in the early grades (Kindergarten
through 6th).

CYGS (Community Youth Gang Services) offers direct services to
neighborhoods awarding actual intervention and mediation of gang
conflict, providing preventive educational programs, setting up
partnerships with community groups and businesses aimed at
reducing gang activity and even furnishing employment programs.
Funding for this kind of work is, of course, an ongoing problem.
The rest of society certainly doesn't want to pay for it.
Sometimes because Latino and Black gang activity is largely
directed at their own ethnic groups within their own
neighborhoods, the rest of the society presumes that they need not
concern themselves. However, our system of governments maintains
that all residents of the U. S. are entitled to protection
regardless of color and ethnicity. History demonstrates that all
"... criminal groups in the U. S., whatever their ethnic origin,
eventually extend their corrupting tentacles to the larger
community as they seek more power, influence and money" (U.S.
Senate 1991:5 quoted in Karen A. Joe: 1995:8). Gangs, therefore,
are decisively everyone's problems.

DE-EMPHASIZE THE NEGATIVE, ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE: The current
L. A. Police Chief, Williams, has said repeatedly during a number
of public appearances that what we have done the last 20 years has
not worked. He adds that children long for someone to accept
them, love and praise them. They need approval. Police Chief
Williams suggests that we tell them that they will achieve, and
not that they will fail.